Ukraine detained two agents in Kyiv’s equivalent to the Secret Service over allegedly plotting with the Russians to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Two colonels in Ukraine’s State Protection Department, which is tasked with guarding the lives of the president and other high-ranking government officials, have been arrested for an alleged attempt to assassinate President Zelensky in conjunction with Russia’s FSB, the successor to the Soviet Union’s KGB, it is claimed1.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Russian intelligence agency was tasked with finding potential traitors within Zelensky’s security detail who could take him hostage and ultimately kill the president. The two colonels face life in prison if convicted.
“The plans were to be implemented by an agent network that was exposed in advance by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) with the assistance of the leadership of the State Protection Department. The network, whose activities were supervised by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) from Moscow, included two colonels of the State Protection Department who ‘leaked’ secret information to the Russian Federation,” the SBU said according to Ukraine state media Ukrinform.
“The enemy’s plan was as follows: first, a recruited agent was to observe the movement of a protected person and pass information to the enemy. The coordinates of the house where the official was supposed to be were to be used to launch a missile strike. Then, they were going to attack the people who remained at the site of the attack with a drone. After that, the Russians planned to hit with another missile, including to destroy the traces of the drone,” the SBU added.
In addition to targeting Zelenksy, the alleged assassination plot was also to include Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the SBU, the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, and other top Ukrainian officials.
The SBU has claimed to have observed both of the accused colonels making trips to acquire drones and explosives. The intelligence agency also claimed to have intercepted conversations between the potential terrorist tasked with carrying out the attack and his FSB handler.
“Only a limited number of people knew about our special operation, and I personally supervised its progress. The terrorist attack, which was supposed to be a gift to Putin for his inauguration, was in fact a failure of the Russian secret service. But we must not forget that the enemy is strong and experienced, and cannot be underestimated. We will continue to work proactively to ensure that every traitor receives a well-deserved court sentence,” Malyuk said.
The disclosure of the alleged plot to kill Zelensky comes just days after the Interior Ministry of Russia issued an arrest warrant against Zelensky. Although Moscow did not disclose the specific reason for the arrest warrant, the Kremlin has previously accused Zelensky of engaging in terrorist acts during the war.
Meanwhile, last month, a Polish citizen was arrested for allegedly helping Russia plot a separate assassination attempt on Zelensky by carrying out reconnaissance on an airport used by the Ukrainian president. Zelensky has claimed that he has survived at least 10 attempts on his life.
On top of facing apparent murderous mutiny from within his own government, the Zelensky administration has been plagued with allegations of corruption, with even the New York Times admitting last year that funds for military contracts had “vanished”.
Despite this, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson broke ranks with conservatives in the Republican party to join with President Biden and D.C. Democrats to approve a further $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine.